Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Army repels Abu Sayyaf attack

ZAMBOANGA
CITY, Philippines - Abu Sayyaf militants attacked a military detachment
in Sumisip town, Basilan but were repelled by government troops, a
military official said.

The Abu Sayyaf militants led by Kumander Botong Aleman fired on the
army detachment Monday about 9:20 a.m. at Barangay Candiis, triggering
heavy exchange of firepower.

Capt. Alberto Caber, public affairs chief of the 1st Infantry
Division (ID), said troops from the 64th Infantry Battalion and the
Special Forces Team 1405 retaliated and repelled the militants.

He said the troops also unleashed rounds of mortar fire toward the
position of the Abu Sayyaf group prompting the attacking militants to
retreat in the deep forest.

Caber said no one was killed on the government troops' side during the attack.

“The soldiers have successfully defended the camp, which had been
subjected to attacks for five times already by the Abu Sayyaf group,”
Caber said.

Major Gen. Ricardo Rainier Cruz III, 1st ID chief, commended the
troops in defending the detachment and ordered the soldiers to continue
its Bayanihan works in Sumisip, Basilan to defeat the scourge of
terrorism spawned by the Abu sayyaf group.

“The successful defense of the detachment by our foot soldiers is a
pledge that our army is sincere and not tired in protecting the mixed
Muslim-Christian community against rogue elements in Basilan.”

Caber said the attack revealed plans of the Abu Sayyaf group to
regain possession of the area where the detachment was established.

“Evidently, the location served as the former militants’ observation
post to provide them great tactical advantage in the area against
government troops,” Caber said.

The military troops overrun the area in an offensive against the Abu
Sayyaf and the lost command Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) late
last year after intelligence information revealed the group used the
area as their planning and staging point against the civilians and
military forces.